What is artificial insemination?

The two most commonly carried out types of artificial insemination are in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT). In IVF, one embryo (or up to 3 in the UK)is replaced into your womb whereas GIFT involves sperm and egg being mixed and put back into your fallopian tube. IVF has a higher success rate, but GIFT is much cheaper and less complicated to perform.

The beginning The fertilized egg divides rapidly into two cells, then four, then eight, and so on. These early cells, when the fertilized egg (morula) is fewer than 32 cells, have the ability to form any part of the human body and are known as "totipotential" cells.